00:00
Defining And Shaping Success. The following video features individuals seated in an office conference room speaking to the camera about their experiences with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind or MCB. They are each talking about the subject of “Defining And Shaping Success” and how MCB Vocational Rehabilitation or VR clients and counselors make and measure progress. Speakers include, in order:
Lynn Shortis (Teacher Of Visually Impaired Students)
Brendan Foley (Teacher Of Visually Impaired Students)
Joe Buizon (MCB Employment Services)
Brittany Taylor (MCB VR Counselor)
Brandon Rollins (MCB Client)
Kara Sittig (MCB VR Counselor)
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs (MCB VR Counselor)
Elena Regan (MCB Client)
00:57
Lynn Shortis: Success for a student to me, honestly, it's just that they're happy. And whatever that means. And happiness is different for everybody; so if happiness to them is being successful in college and having their career, or heading off to the work world, having a...having a set of friends, being able to go out and do things, it's really whatever is most important to them.
01:18
Brendan Foley: If you're confident, you understand yourself, you know where your limitations are, you know how to overcome them, and you present well, that is my definition of success.
01:27
Joe Buizon: I think success truly means that, you know, they're…they're working, they're producing, they're in the community, they're proud of it. And they don't have to be relying on loved ones, or on the community in the sense of perhaps benefits or different financial aspects, and that they're bringing value to companies and companies understand that.
01:55
Brittany Taylor: Success is extremely individualized. So I may have a client who their goal at the end of the day is to be able to take a bus, right, and to be able to travel independently, to go to the supermarket. And then I have another individual whose goals may be to graduate law school and become a lawyer.
02:13
Brandon Rollins: I'm not just the intern kind of trying to get advice and help. I'm now a part of it. And I never for a second dreamed that that was possible. And oh my gosh, you know, that those moments still come, it's, “I did it!” The journey is just beginning, but oh, my gosh, I did this. I accomplished what I thought was impossible.
02:30
Kara Sittig: When someone is closed, it is considered a successful placement. So what that means is that they have been in a job for 90 days, with whatever services they have been provided with. The softer side is that like someone is happy with what they're doing. Because we'd see people come back all the time.
02:50
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs: You can change your mind 50 times and nobody's going to care, as long as it is something that we can figure out how to work together to provide the services that are going to make the most sense.
03:00
Joe Buizon: There's got to be different strategies, because some just need informational, kind of motivational interviewing. Some just need a tap on the back, and some need maybe more kind of TLC and tougher love. So it really varies situationally, and we do that delicate dance every time we meet somebody, because we want to make sure that we continue to persevere and kind of work through down…down that path towards employment.
03:31
Elena Regan: Over the years they got…really got to know us well at MCB. Mayanne knows how I am me and how Brendan's Brendon. She knew that I kind of a go-getter, I'm an achiever, and we'd kind of took those characteristics of me and chose what to do.
03:46
Brittany Taylor: You know, all of our services are…are tailored to the client. So if a client tells me, “I'm not a college bound consumer, I've never seen myself being college bound consumer,” that's okay. We can determine any vocational program. So if they prefer to do a training program, we can come up with some ideas for training programs. But also, some people might want to go straight to work, and that might be after high school working with the job developer from outside agency, and that's okay too.
04:13
Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs: Success is that they find a passion and that they're able to achieve the goals they set for themselves along the way, and that they have the skills to achieve the goals that they want.
04:28
Brandon Rollins: It is a journey. There are going to be really good days, they're gonna be really, really bad days. But the biggest thing is to do what you need at your own time and at your own pace.
04:37
To learn more about and contact the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, find them online at mass.gov. Or call 800-392-6450.